Apella vs VitVio (2026)
Apella and VitVio both use cameras and models to log what happens in the operating room without staff charting it, write those events back to the record and keep a live picture of every room. They differ in how far each goes and in how much each can show. Apella's two dimensional vision models timestamp up to 14 events from four wall cameras, and its modules forecast case duration, flag delays, manage block time and report on turnovers. It runs in more than 200 operating rooms at Houston Methodist and at Tampa General, MUSC and other named hospitals, publishes detection accuracy from a peer reviewed paper and has a Houston Methodist study tying it to more cases. VitVio's Vetro, opened to hospitals in July 2026, builds a 3D point cloud of each room and uses it for more: recognizing the instruments on each tray and drafting the operative note for the surgeon to sign, alongside stage logging and a self updating schedule. It names no hospital and publishes no results yet. Apella suits a buyer who wants capacity tools with a track record now; VitVio suits one ready to pilot newer automation of trays and documentation.
- Named deployments, including more than 200 operating rooms at Houston Methodist and customers such as Tampa General and MUSC.
- Peer reviewed detection accuracy, F1 of 0.98 to 0.99 across five events, and a published study of added case volume.
- Capacity tools for block utilization, open time and case duration forecasts.
- A help center that spells out video retention, access and security controls.
- 3D room modeling that follows people and equipment through occlusion rather than flat image detection.
- Instrument recognition on each tray, showing what was used, for sterile processing and tray rationalization.
- An operative note drafted continuously from voice and activity, reviewed and signed by the surgeon before leaving the room.
- Video discarded moments after processing, with no archive or playback library.
This comparison is published by AI Health Index, an independent research platform that compares healthcare AI vendors objectively. Apella and VitVio are each graded against the same capability taxonomy, from each vendor's own public materials and the regulatory record, under the AI Health Index verification standard. No vendor pays for placement, and no vendor has reviewed this page. How this evidence is graded
Plain facts
| Fact | Apella | VitVio |
|---|---|---|
| Primary category | Hospital & Unit Operations | Hospital & Unit Operations |
| Founded | 2019 | Not recorded |
| Headquarters | San Francisco, California, United States | London, United Kingdom |
| Website | apella.io | vitvio.com |
Side by Side
Select any grade to read the note behind it.
Each vendor in one paragraph
Written to be quoted whole. Each paragraph states what the AI Health Index verified about the vendor, with the caveats attached.
Apella reads each operating room through four fixed cameras and its own detection models, timestamping up to 14 events and writing them to Epic in real time. It has handled more than 500,000 surgical cases, and Houston Methodist runs it in more than 200 rooms across nine hospitals.
Source: AI Health Index, October 2026
VitVio's Vetro builds a live three dimensional model of each operating room from sensors calibrated without markers, so it can follow people and equipment as they move and overlap. From that model it logs surgical stages without charting, tracks tray instruments and drafts the operative note.
Source: AI Health Index, October 2026
Questions buyers ask
How does each one see the room?
Apella runs computer vision on four fixed wall cameras per room, with a YOLO based detector and a transformer model that timestamps events. VitVio builds a live 3D point cloud of each room from markerless calibration and reasons over poses and geometry, which it says handles occlusion and supports tasks such as tray recognition. From the AI Health Index, drawn from each vendor's own published materials and the regulatory record, verified October 12, 2026. No vendor pays for placement.
What does each write to the record?
Both write detected events back to the hospital's record system. Apella names Epic OpTime and also works with Oracle Health Cerner. VitVio names Epic and Cerner and also syncs a drafted operative note, with its sources and codes, for the surgeon to sign. From the AI Health Index, drawn from each vendor's own published materials and the regulatory record, verified October 12, 2026. No vendor pays for placement.
What happens to the video?
Apella keeps encrypted video for a retention period agreed with each hospital, never more than 28 days, and uses it for model training and quality assurance. VitVio says most footage is discarded moments after processing, with no archive or playback, and its privacy policy keeps personal information no longer than 90 days. From the AI Health Index, drawn from each vendor's own published materials and the regulatory record, verified October 12, 2026. No vendor pays for placement.
Related comparisons
Other published head to head assessments involving these vendors or their closest peers. The full set for this category is on the Hospital & Unit Operations page.
VitVio's US company is incorporated in Delaware and its subsidiary, VitVio Ltd, operates from London; Thomas Knox is chief executive. Houston Methodist is both an Apella customer and a minority shareholder in the company.